Friday, November 21, 2008

Oh what wicked webs we weave...

Work today, made me completely irate. I wish that I could give specifics of what happened just to make you all completely understand the situation, because it is a serious ethical issue going on here, and I am now in the midst of it, essentially in a whistle-blower position.

Basically, an employee for another agency was instructed by his supervisor to recommend something in court that he felt was unethical. He told his supervisor that he couldn't truthfully make that recommendation, and that as the only person from his agency that actually had contact with the child, he would not make that recommendation. His supervisor told him that if he didn't, she would consider it to be insubordination, and that he would be fired. He was IRATE today in court, and basically put up no fight. Of course, we won (though I have to say that I think we would have anyway). He pulled me aside after, explained what was going on, and swore me to secrecy, but I had to report it to MY supervisor, because his advocating for what he felt was unethical significantly impacted the agency that I work for. Keep in mind, we're not talking private law firms. We're talking public agencies and human services non-profits here.

I have a feeling that this minor recap without the SIGNIFICANT associate details probably won't seem like that big of a deal. But let me tell you, this is a serious ethical issue at hand. You can't instruct someone to LIE in court, and tell them that if they don't they'll be fired!!

Okay, I'm done ranting. I think I'll go watch Top Chef and then take a nap before Twilight at 10pm tonight. Can you believe the theater is recommending that people arrive 1-2 hours early?!